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Fringe 2010 Reviews (43)
Clever Peter: Blood, Sweat & Tears
Pleasance Dome.
*****
Even the changing of the set, the flaw of many a show, displays this group's comic abilities with their trademarks of speed, sweat and slapstick, keeping the audience laughing even between scenes.
No sketch outlives its BBE and with Richard Bond's groovy scene changes with suitable musical accompaniment they just keep zipping along, 26 in total, although to be honest I completely lost count and was lost in my laughter so they could've made that up. They are original, there are ongoing themes but also complete oddballs thrown into the mix. Characters are created in seconds, situations dissolve into farce and the three performers perspire like pedos at a playgroup with their full-on physicality.
Clever Peter have grown up; no gorilla gang rape here but their dark, filthy side is still there. It's just used in a more sparing way making it, in fact, more shocking. The humour here is universal. The older couple in front of me were killing themselves in the front row, completely lost in the comedy even when I sprayed my drink over them.
Without doubt the funniest thing I've seen at the Fringe this year.
Seth Ewin
Next! Death by Audition
By Kiki Kendrick
Assembly Hall.
***
Next is a gentle comic walk through the tortures of unsuccessful auditioning. Its writer/performer, Kiki Kendrick, has obviously been through every bad experience imaginable and decided to turn her nightmares into a show.
Only she will know how much of what she tells is drawn from life and how much apocryphal, though there is probably a good dose of each in Next.
For an hour, we hear enough about casting and other directors to hate every one on sight and also begin to understand the value of a good agent, i.e. any agent under 80.
Aspiring actors might do well to see this show, as it will probably put them off forever and save much heartache. They might however not actually learn all that much about how to audition better.
Kiki Kendrick is a good performer and has a nice, self-effacing sense of humour. She must also be the only actor in town who has failed auditions for both The Bill and Casualty.
Philip Fisher
The Friendship Experiment
Richard Jordan Productions
Underbelly.
*
On the basis that the large majority of the audience at the performance under review found it very funny, you might be well advised to read some reviews elsewhere to discover why.
In particular, the reason for putting a comedy set into the theatre category in the Fringe programme is a mystery.
For 75 minutes, two men drenched in sweat, a short one called Matt with an IQ in single figures who cannot go a whole minute without crossing his eyes and a taller one Tim who acts more intelligent, put on an impro that is not improvised.
They slowly tell a rather predictable story of two Liverpudlian friends reuniting for the stag night of one of them. However, whenever it begins to get going, the thick bloke interrupts to break the rhythm and get laughs.
Most of the humour derives from shouting and repetition, generally together, though quite why people find this so funny would make an interesting thesis for a psychology student.
Philip Fisher
Greg Davies: Firing Cheeseballs at a Dog
Avalon Promotions Ltd
Pleasance Courtyard.
****
The towering figure of Greg Davies is matched solely by his immense stature as a comedian, as this, his first solo outing, proves. Having suffered a serious accident on holiday, Davies has decide to recount to us the greatest moments of bizarre and abstract brilliance which have happened to him, as inspired by the titular event of firing cheeseballs at a dog.
It’s a great performance as Davies's self-deprecating humour and natural charm makes his comedy all the more enjoyable. Taking us on a whirlwind tour of his life and the bizarre and inane moments of abstract joy, he recounts his days at school, covering nicknames, strange teachers and onwards through his depressed years teaching drama, before rounding out the performance with a sometimes touching but always funny segment about his parents and family.
Davies has established himself as an entity unto himself this Fringe. Considering this is his first attempt at solo stand-up, it’s a credit to him that he stands both head and shoulders above the competition, both literally and figuratively.
Graeme Strachan
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